OK, sorry, this is a trend, but I think counterfeiting is a big deal. I just want to make sure here if I can.

I have an UNO R3 that is quite a close match for the one photographed on this site. Silk screens, circuit board runs, vias, pretty nearly everything looks the same. But I notice two significant differences:

On my UNO, the "RESET" label next to the reset button is printed vertically. That is, it is oriented like the "AREF" and "GND" and "13" labels nearby. It is located between the button and the short edge of the board. In the photo on this site, the "RESET" label is oriented horizontally like "TX" and "RX" and "DIGITAL" and "ARDUINO", and it is located between the button and the USB connector.

Also, on my UNO, there are pronounced serrations on short segments of the short ends of the board. They are under the USB and power connectors. They look like rows of holes drilled to provide break points for a board that goes through manufacturing as a double and then broken in half for actual use, though this is only a guess.

Can anybody tell me if the "RESET" label placement or the serrated break-like edges prove this is counterfeit?

Thanks! This is the last of the things I have bought through Amazon and not on this site, so I completely hope I'm not going to post another of these.

Stonent, how do you really know if it was real? And how can I really tell mine was counterfeit? It came in a pretty Arduino box too.

I put mine on a flatbed scanner and got an image of each side, and downloaded the detailed photos from this site, and fiddled with photos from both sources until they were the same size and location on my computer screen, and flipped back and forth between the two with my photo software using my arrow keys while I looked all around the two images. And many many details looked the same as far as I can tell, but that RESET label was in two different places and two different orientations. It took me a while to spot it, but no doubt it was printed from a different silk screen (or whatever the method was).

It can take a bit of work to prove one's different from another, and I am not even sure how you can ever prove two things are the same. Nonetheless, once I find the labels are different (or find differences like in my other "counterfeit" postings), can people confirm that that is proof positive of a counterfeit? Or do genuine Arduino boards ever have label placement, fonts, additional pin numbers, or bad Italy maps, that differ from the photos on this site?

I want to complain vigorously if I am certain they sold me counterfeits, but I want to be certain! Intellectual property and trademark rights are important - for one thing, they feed my family.

Are you in the U.S.? If "yes", did the product arrive from China? If "yes", then the chances are extremely high it is counterfeit.

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And many many details looked the same as far as I can tell, but that RESET label was in two different places and two different orientations. It took me a while to spot it, but no doubt it was printed from a different silk screen (or whatever the method was).

They do make label changes between revisions. For example, RESET-EN has been moved (1/3 from the left, towards the bottom)...

What I mean is, if Amazon is substituting counterfeits for genuine products, I want to try to convince them not to. If they knowingly keep doing so, I want to try to convince those in my extended audience to stop buying anything from Amazon. But I absolutely don't want to do this if these things I bought aren't counterfeits. NONE of these people are going to care where a RESET label is per se, especially if they have never even heard of Arduino, they would only care what it means. That's why I want to pin down what it means. If it's really difficult to do that once for myself, they sure aren't going to all do it independently.

I think the Arduino product line (plus legitimate derivative products from vendors who support these forums) is the neatest and most lovable to have come along in a while, and counterfeiting should not discourage new users, who should just buy them direct from Arduino or from some trustworthy US vendor like SparkFun, which is what I'm doing now. And I guess mere clones have their place, especially for users who don't come for support to this forum, though to me the originals are attractively priced anyway. Pushing back against trademark infringing counterfeits feels worthwhile. Wouldn't it be great if trademarked Arduinos from Amazon were always the real article? If I'm beating a dead horse asking about it here, just clue me in. That said, any help proving things one way or the other would really be appreciated.

Assuming the Uno is fake, Amazon is not doing the substitution, Prestige Milano is. Amazon's role is simply taking your money and notifying Prestige Milano what was ordered, where to send it to, and transferring the money (after taking its brokerage cost out for acting as the middleman) to them. When ordering from Amazon, you need to look to see whether Amazon is the seller, or it is being sold via Amazon Marketplace by a third party. Usually if Amazon is the seller, you get a line saying you can get free shipping if your order total is over $25. I've noticed more Amazon Marketplace offers recently, particularly the low cost Chinese sites you find on ebay. Usually, I tend to skip those sites and look for an American shipper, looking at how long it will take to get to me without paying an arm and leg for overnight shipping.

I got mine from DX. It's fake and works without issues. For less than half the price and free shipping (shipping from legit dealers is around twice the price of the board for my country) I say it's worth it.

The only thing I have against buying clones (trademark infringement or not) is the chances of getting crap is pretty high, so much so I wont even look at them anymore.

my mega was the straw, its non infringing, but it slow boated from china broken, they would refund me if I paid to mail it back and they decided it was indeed broken (HA HA) then I could simply reorder one, course shipping charges would not be refunded. Well no sorry I just fixed the stupid thing, and after nearly a month going back n fourth + 3 weeks original shipping + parts from digikey it would have been so much simpler to pay the extra 5 bucks, tax and gas to get a real one from the local radio shack.

The only thing I have against buying clones (trademark infringement or not) is the chances of getting crap is pretty high, so much so I wont even look at them anymore.

my mega was the straw, its non infringing, but it slow boated from china broken, they would refund me if I paid to mail it back and they decided it was indeed broken (HA HA) then I could simply reorder one, course shipping charges would not be refunded. Well no sorry I just fixed the stupid thing, and after nearly a month going back n fourth + 3 weeks original shipping + parts from digikey it would have been so much simpler to pay the extra 5 bucks, tax and gas to get a real one from the local radio shack.

Unfortunately the price difference is often much more then $5 difference, making it hard for some to not take advantage of the big price difference.

That's almost a $40 delta (plus SparkFun shipping charge), which can make a big deal for some hobbyist budgets. It's a delima. I own both original arduino boards and some questionable clone boards, and I can tell you I only bought a recent 'Arduino' NANO board because it was $10 with free USB cable and free shipment Vs $35 list for a real one ( http://www.robotshop.com/arduino-nan-v-3.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=jos ).

I simply didn't need a NANO board, I just bought it because it was so cheap and I wanted to see if it was really worth $10. Turns out to work fine and look fine in construction and materials.

Clones are in a whole separate class from counterfeits that infringe the trademark. Clones that don't pretend to have been made under the Arduino trademark serve a useful function in the marketplace, and if you don't come here for forum help, using them is legit. It's a matter of personal choice whether paying extra to get the original article is worthwhile. Infringing the trademark is stealing.

Shpaget, if I can ask, where are you shipping to that it costs $100? That sounds horrible!